Transformer fire puts parts of city in dark

A power outage caused by a transformer fire blanketed large portions of Santa Fe's north and east sides yesterday beginning about 8:15 p.m. Power went off at The New Mexican at that time, flickered briefly back on, then failed again. The company generator filled in the gap until regular service was restored around 9:15 p.m.

An operator at the PNM call center in Albuquerque had no definite information on the location of the fire at press time.

The initial outages were reported to extend as far north as Tano Road, east to Wilderness Gate Road, and south to Cerrillos Road and St. Francis Drive; the western limit was initially St. Frances Drive, but reports of variable outages further west were received.

Prescribed burn in watershed continues

Santa Feans may see another big plume of dark, thick smoke east of the city in the municipal watershed this afternoon.

Fire managers are planning to continue work on an 850-acre prescribed burn. Ground crews will work on burning a safety line around the perimeter of the planned burn. A helicopter will drop small incendiary devices from the air beginning on the north end of the project.

Smoke will be visible from Santa Fe, Tesuque, Interstate 25, and to the east toward Glorieta and Pecos. Smoke will be monitored; the Forest Service complies with New Mexico air quality regulations.

Tell us who made an impact

Every year, The New Mexican recognizes 10 people in Northern New Mexico through a special section, 10 Who Made a Difference.

Those chosen must be living in Northern New Mexico and involved in one or more volunteer activities that have made a difference in their community. To nominate an individual, please write a letter or e-mail describing the person and their accomplishments and tell us how to contact you as well as the nominee.

The letters must received by The New Mexican by 5 p.m. Oct. 14.

Please send nominations to: 10 Who Made a Difference, The New Mexican City Desk, P.O. Box 2048, Santa Fe, NM 87504 or submit by e-mail to brucek@sfnewmexican.com.

Profiles on those honored will be published Thanksgiving Day.

Community seeks help with water

Residents in a subdivision that has run out of water near Las Vegas, N.M., are asking Gov. Bill Richardson for help.

El Creston Mutual Domestic Water Users' Association voted Sept. 14 to declare an emergency and ask the governor and San Miguel County to provide drinking water to the 16 homes south of Las Vegas near Romeroville that have recently lost their well water.

The association said some of the families have been hauling water from a nearby campground and driving into Las Vegas for showers. Among the residents are low-income people and veterans.

The association is asking for help from the state to develop a local water supply and distribution system. The association said wells began to go dry last summer as Las Vegas pumped from a nearby municipal well field.

Mexico's first lady to visit Santa Fe

Mexico's first lady, Margarita Zavala Gomez del Campo, is scheduled to visit Santa Fe's city hall on Monday as part of a trip focusing on health issues for Mexicans living abroad.

A city news release said Mayor David Coss will present a proclamation and gift from the city.

She also is scheduled to attend the 4:45 p.m. opening ceremony for the Mexican Consulate's Ventanilla de Salud at El Paisano, 5948 Airport Road, Suite F. In cooperation with The University of New Mexico Cancer Center and the New Mexico Department of Health, the office will provide information and referrals to health services for Mexicans living in New Mexico.

On Tuesday, Zavala Gomez del Campo and the Mexican secretary of health, Jose Angel Cordova Villalobos, along with Gov. Bill Richardson, are scheduled to attend the opening of the Bi-National Health Commission meeting at Buffalo Thunder Resort.

N.M. water project moves forward

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar on Thursday signed the final environmental impact statement for a project to supply water to the Navajo Nation, the Jicarilla Apache Nation and the city of Gallup.

Salazar signed documents in Washington, D.C., joined by three members of New Mexico's congressional delegation, Democratic Sens. Jeff Bingaman and Tom Udall and Rep. Ben Ray Luján.

Congress in March passed a massive public lands bill that included legislation settling a decades-long dispute over Navajo water claims.

The legislation settled the tribe's claims in the San Juan River Basin and authorized a pipeline to serve Gallup and Navajo communities in New Mexico and eastern Arizona.

Salazar said moving the project ahead will provide a sustainable water supply and a foundation for economic development in northwestern New Mexico.

Trinity Site opens to public Saturday

The public is invited Saturday to visit the New Mexico desert site that changed world history.

The Trinity Site at White Sands Missile Range, where the world's first atomic bomb was detonated on July 16, 1945, will be open to the public from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Visitors can take a quarter-mile walk to ground zero. There, they will see a small obelisk that marks the exact spot where the bomb was exploded at 5:29:45 a.m. Mountain War Time on July 16, 1945.

Historical photos will be mounted on the fence surrounding the area.

Officials say Trinity Site visitors can also ride a missile range shuttle bus two miles to the Schmidt/McDonald ranch house. That's the location where scientists assembled the plutonium core of the bomb.

There is no admission charge.

Parents accused of locking child up

An Eastern New Mexico couple is jailed after a 10-year-old girl told police they used a timer to allow her only a few minutes to eat, then locked her in her room at night to keep her from getting up and eating.

Police in Portales say the child also was denied access to the bathroom at home and forced to wear pull-up diapers, and her head was shaved as punishment.

Her father and stepmother, Mern and Athena Shepherd, have been charged with child neglect.

The Shepherds were arrested Sept. 24.

The child was removed from the home Sept. 18, the day elementary-school teachers called police, saying the girl appeared to be malnourished.

Shiprock substation powers up

A new electric substation at Shiprock more than doubles the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority's capacity to send electricity to new homes and businesses.

The authority put the $3.5 million-plus substation off U.S. 491 into operation Wednesday.

It can receive up to 12 megawatts from power plant suppliers, giving an alternative to a 50-year-old, 7.5-megawatt substation nearing its maximum capacity.

The utility's Shiprock District manager, Eugene John, says the substation was urgent because development requires more electricity.

The facility can supply power to up to 8,000 new homes in the Shiprock district, which reaches from Teec Nos Pos, Ariz., to Hogback and south to Sheep Springs.

Electric engineering supervisor Lester Lee says the new equipment is expected to support the region's business and residential development for at least 20 years.

N.M. Tech to expand border training

New Mexico Tech in Socorro says it's expanding its law enforcement education program to include a new initiative for officers stationed along the U.S.-Mexico border.

The university won a competitive grant for $994,000 from the Department of Justice to educate nonfederal law enforcement officers in New Mexico and Arizona to combat drug trafficking and related violence in border areas.

The associate director of the Energetic Materials Research and Testing Center, Dave Williams, says the initiative will train state, local and tribal police officers to deal with the threats posed by Mexican cartels involved in cross-border drug trade.

Williams says these are the officers that are on the front lines in the war on drug trafficking.

The new program calls for hiring seven full-time employees and 99 part-time workers.

ICE launches new program

A program started by the federal government will help law enforcement agencies in Bernalillo County accurately identify and remove dangerous illegal immigrants from the community.

The Secure Communities program, administered by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, uses biometrics to help determine whether an individual arrested by a participating state or local law enforcement agency is a dangerous criminal illegal immigrant who may be deported.

The program can be used by agencies that use electronic booking machines. In Bernalillo County, this includes Albuquerque police, state police and the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office.

Federal officials say the program has already been implemented in about 80 counties, including Doña Ana, Grant, Hidalgo and Luna counties in New Mexico. It's expected to be available nationwide by the end of 2013.